When Life Truly Began
by AndAllThatMishigas
Summary: Gilmore Origins 1. Emily starts college and Richard protests a dress code.


Author's Note: Welcome to the first of many installments of Gilmore Origins, the love story between Emily and Richard. I've been very struck by how perfectly matched those two are, and watching A Year in the Life made me think a lot about Emily before she met Richard and how falling in love with him affected her. So here's the beginning. Please review, and enjoy!

 **When Life Truly Began**

"Damn." Emily Ashford had been startled by the knock on her bedroom door and accidentally gotten mascara in her eye. She blindly reached for a tissue in a vain attempt to prevent the rest of her makeup from smearing.

"Miss Emily?" the maid called softly from the hallway, knocking again.

"I'm not finished getting ready. When I am ready, I will come out," Emily replied sternly.

Another voice came from behind the door. "Emily, Mother and Father are waiting in the car."

She sighed. "You can come in, Hopey."

A petite blonde entered Emily's room and sat down on the edge of the bed. "You know, you were the one who wanted to go."

"And I do want to go. Don't you see, Hopey? This is the only way I can have my own life. I can't be myself here. Not with Mother and Father controlling every single thing I do." She sighed. "But I cannot arrive at Smith looking like I just got out of bed."

"Aren't you just going to get all messy moving your things in?" Hope pointed out.

Emily shook her head. "Don't be silly. We pay people to carry boxes and move furniture."

Hope shrugged. "I suppose you're right. But please hurry. You know how Father gets when you make him wait."

"And you know how Mother gets when I leave the house looking unpresentable," Emily countered. She finished putting on her lipstick, fluffed her hair a bit, and looked at herself for the last time. "Alright, let's go. Grab my purse, would you?"

Hope handed Emily her handbag and followed her out. They got into the backseat of their father's Mercedes.

"Emily, you're late," Vincent Ashford said coldly.

"I am precisely on time. You were ready early," she contradicted.

"It isn't ladylike to argue," Mildred Ashford scolded. "You'll never find a husband if you keep doing that."

Emily rolled her eyes but didn't respond to her mother. She leaned against the window and watched Westport go by as they drove to Smith College.

* * *

"Bulldog! Bulldog! Bow wow wow!" Richard sang out, letting his full baritone voice join his group in perfect harmony. Usually this song wasn't sung so carefully, but the Whiffenpoofs were just having some fun.

He gazed around the room at his comrades and stood tall and proud. Yes, this was the life. He couldn't imagine ever being more fulfilled than right in this moment.

When the song ended, they all applauded themselves, laughing and patting each other on the back.

"Richard, we still on for that poker game tonight?"

"Of course! Philip still owes me from last week. And I'll be taking all your money, Raymond," Richard challenged. He finalized his plans with his friends before heading back to his dorm at Branford Hall.

When he arrived, he found his roommate, Donald, waiting for him. "Richard," he greeted gravely. "Have you seen this?"

"I don't know. To what are you referring?"

"New dress code policy. It is positively draconian," Donald lamented.

Richard frowned. "Surely you're overreacting."

Donald just shook his head and handed Richard the notice they had received.

Richard skimmed it, his eyes narrowing more and more, the further he got down the page. "This is absurd!" he lamented. "This absolutely cannot stand. It must be a…a First Amendment violation! An abuse of our civil liberties!"

Donald interrupted before Richard could get too overwrought. "Why don't we talk to the boys at the game tonight? Between the five of us, we must be able to come up with a plan of action."

Richard nodded. "Quite right."

* * *

Emily stood in the middle of a vacant living room, gazing around as movers made their way past her. The space was small but clean. There were already some boxes and small furnishings in the corner.

"Aren't you supposed to have a roommate?"

Emily turned to her mother. "Yes. I believe she's already arrived. Those aren't my boxes," she pointed.

"Well, where is she?" Mildred asked impatiently.

"Mother, how would I know where she is? I haven't met her yet, and clearly she isn't here. You have as much information as I do," Emily snapped.

Mildred glared at her eldest daughter. "I hope you don't speak like that to your new roommate. You will never get anywhere in life if you do not learn to behave."

"I behave just fine. Why don't you take Hopey to the bookstore? Or get some lunch with Father? I'll stay and direct the movers."

Mildred regarded her dubiously. "You're going to direct the movers?"

"It's my dorm. I know where I want things."

"Fine." Mildred walked away, leaving an icy tension in her wake.

Emily smiled to herself. Finally, alone and in control. She began to point where she wanted things. The roommate wasn't there to disagree, so Emily figured she'd make the decisions for furniture and such in the living room. By the time all the furnishings were in, it looked rather pleasant. She sent the movers away and left them a generous tip before going around to rearrange smaller items and start unpacking more boxes of her things.

The door opened. "Oh my goodness, this is lovely!"

She turned to see a girl her own age, very short with a round face and dark curly hair. Emily made her way over to her with her hand extended. "Hello, I'm Emily Ashford."

The girl grinned widely, revealing perfectly straight, white teeth. "I'm so happy to meet you! I'm Melinda Martin. But you can call me Sweetie. Everyone does. I'm so excited that we're going to be roommates!" She pulled Emily in for a big hug.

Emily was startled by the exuberant display of affection, but tried not to be dissuaded by it. She did pull away rather quickly though. "I hope you don't mind that I furnished the living room. I didn't want to waste the movers' time by just waiting for you to get back."

"Oh no, I'm very glad you did. I didn't want to do anything you wouldn't like, and I don't have any strong feelings about it, so I was hoping you'd want to take care of it. And you did, and it looks utterly beautiful. You really have an eye for these things, Emily," Sweetie gushed.

Emily couldn't help but smile at the compliment. "Thank you. I'm glad you like it."

"Is your family here? I'd like to meet them if they are."

"They're on campus somewhere. I wanted them out of the way while I set things up. I'm sure they'll turn up before they go back to Connecticut. Is your family here with you?"

"No, they just sent me with my boxes. I know my way around here. My older sister went to Smith for one semester before she dropped out to get married. But I loved coming to visit her for those few months. I'd be happy to show you around."

"I'd like that." Emily had now decided that she liked this Sweetie Martin. She would be a good roommate. Emily could get along with her. And maybe they could even become friends.

The two began to unpack Sweetie's boxes and put her things around the room as well. As they decorated, they chatted, getting to know each other. Emily was going to be a history major and Sweetie would be studying English. Sweetie's family was also from Connecticut, though from Greenwich, while the Ashfords were from Westport. Sweetie was the youngest of three; she had an older brother who went to Yale. Sweetie made Emily promise that they would go to parties there together, especially since Sweetie had her own car.

The Ashfords returned and were very polite to Sweetie as she greeted them. Mildred gave Emily a look as a silent warning against any antics she might pull. Emily did her best to ignore her. Hope watched her sister and this new girl with a slight twinge of jealousy. She hugged Emily close, hoping to impart how much she admired her for going off to college against their parents' wishes, and trying desperately to steal even a little of her courage.

* * *

A week later, Richard and his friends had decided to put their plan into action. There was no way the administration could do anything to really discipline them. Their families had donated half the buildings on campus. So their protest was sure to get their point across.

"Ready, men?" Philip asked, looking over to the other five in their row.

"Ready!" they all answered.

Richard felt a little nervous, but knew he had nothing to be ashamed of.

"Now!"

The men all dropped the towels they held around their waists and walked out onto campus wearing nothing but silk ties. There were gasps and screams and laughter and a general ruckus from everyone around them as they made their way through the courtyard behind Branford.

"No new dress code! Ensure propriety!" they chanted, walking ever further away from the safety of their dorm.

After a few minutes, the cold was starting to get to them. Richard was starting to feel a little bolder. The others were much shorter than he was. They might have had better defined muscles, but Richard Gilmore stood almost a head above them, and his bulkier frame kept him much better insulated. He walked and chanted proudly as Donald and Raymond's teeth chattered, and Philip, James, and Howard started to shiver.

Sweetie and Emily were on their way to a fraternity party that Sweetie's brother, Johnny, had invited them to. They were momentarily detained by the rowdy crowd forming a ways away. The crowd seemed to be coming toward them.

"What's going on?" Sweetie wondered aloud.

"Probably just boys being idiotic," Emily replied cynically. "Isn't that what usually draws a crowd?"

"Can you tell what they're saying? I can't hear properly. There's too much yelling."

"Well, they're coming this way, if you want to wait and see what's happening," Emily reasoned.

So the two freshman ladies from Smith stood off to the side, waiting for the group to make their way over.

"Is it about a dress code? Is that what they're saying?" Emily was starting to make out a few words here and there.

"I think they're protesting it. Though I don't see how chanting in the middle of the night like this does any good," Sweetie responded. The crowd was quite close now. And through the group, they caught a glimpse of six young men chanting and walking, stark naked. "Oh my god! They aren't wearing any clothes!"

"No, they have neckties, see?" Emily pointed.

"How can you be so calm!" Sweetie squealed, covering her blushing face with her hands.

Emily scoffed, "They're being stupid. Utterly stupid." But her eye did catch a glimpse of a very tall man in the middle. She pressed her lips together to keep from making any sort of sound that would give away any positive feeling she might have for the sight of him. But she shook her head and put the idea straight out of her mind. "Come on, Sweetie. Let's go. I don't know where we're supposed to be going, so I'm going to need you to uncover your face."

"Are they gone?"

"Yes, they're gone. No need to be scandalized anymore," Emily said gently.

"Good." Sweetie took Emily's arm as a comforting presence and led her toward Johnny's fraternity house.

Emily walked with her friend through the Yale campus with a small smile on her face. Yes, she liked the tall one.


End file.
